Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021

Joanne McCartney: Do you have concerns that if the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill 2021 is enacted, it will unfairly restrict the right to protest in London?

The Mayor: I am concerned that the provisions in the Bill regarding protests may have unintentional consequences on free speech, which I am sure the Government does not want.
I will continue to work with Government to encourage them to review these clauses, particularly in light of the Joint Committee on Human Rights’ report which concludes that Part 3 of the Bill introduces draconian measures on non-violent protest which are neither proportionate or necessary.

Rise in Anti-Semitic Incidents

Caroline Pidgeon: In recent weeks we have seen numerous concerning reports of deeply disturbing anti-Semitic incidents in the capital. How will you be increasing your efforts to tackle hate-crime in the capital and ensure communities, such as London’s Jewish community, feel safe?

The Mayor: I share your concern at the recent rise in hate crime targeted at London’s Jewish communities. Both the Commissioner and I take antisemitism very seriously and have taken significant steps to address it.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), working with organisations such as the Community Security Trust (CST) and the Shomrim, have developed reassurance and preventative policing plans across London. Collectively we are continuing to monitor community tensions and any rise in hate crime, dealing quickly with specific incidents, and more broadly responding where needed with reassurance patrols and increased visibility.
At the same time, I have invested more than any other Mayor to tackle hate, intolerance and extremism. My Shared Endeavour Fund supports projects delivered by civil society groups including The Anne Frank Trust UK, The Union of Jewish Students, Maccabi GB, Salaam Peace and The Arc Theatre Ensemble, who specifically cover antisemitism in their projects. I’ve also increased the investment in supporting victims of hate crime when it does occur, including specialist support for victims of antisemitic hate crime.
On 26 May 2021, the Deputy Mayor for Communities and Social Justice and the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime held an emergency meeting with the London Jewish Forum, the Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council, along with religious leaders to discuss the rise in antisemitism and community cohesion tensions. An increase in campus-based harassment was discussed at the meeting, as well as the concerning images recently seen in London schools. We will continue to work with the community and do all we can to support the police in stamping this out.

London Gang Exit Support Service

Joanne McCartney: How many young people from (1) Enfield and (2) Haringey have been supported though the London Gang Exit support service? What support has been given to them?

The Mayor: The London Gang Exit service has supported 15 children and young people who were referred from Enfield and 25 who were referred from Haringey borough since April 2016.
Young people referred into the London Gang Exit service are supported by Safer London. A caseworker to the young person works intensively with them on a one to one basis. A wide variety of support will be offered based on the individual need, such as safety awareness, improving health and wellbeing, improving relationships with peers and family dynamics, opportunities to access stable educational and training, housing advocacy. Families of the young person can also access support to develop their confidence and ability to help keep their children safe.

Independent review into the death of London bus drivers.

Caroline Pidgeon: Please provide an update on the level of implementation so far by TfL of every recommendation made in the second report by the UCL Institute of Health Equity report on bus driver mortality from Covid published in March 2021. Please also provide details of the timescale of the final implementation of every recommendation in the report.

The Mayor: As outlined in its response to Phase 2 of the UCL report, Transport for London has committed to providing updates on progress against every recommendation at the quarterly Safety, Sustainability and Human Resource Panel meetings. The next scheduled update will be at the meeting on 14 September.

County Lines - Rescue and Response

Joanne McCartney: How many young people from (1) Enfield and (2) Haringey have been supported through your County Lines Rescue and Response service? What support has been given to them?

The Mayor: There have been 62 referrals received for children and young people from Enfield since September 2019. 18 young people accepted the referral and have received support from the service.
62 referrals have been received between September 2019 for children from Haringey. 32 young people accepted the referral and have been supported by the service.
Young people referred into the Rescue and Response service are supported by St Giles Trust, Abianda (for young women on the programme) and Safer London. A caseworker to the young person works intensively with them on a one to one basis. A wide variety of support is offered, such as safety planning, family support, personal development, housing support, independent living skills and employability skills. For more information about the project and the support provided you may wish to read a recent strategic asessment: https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/rescue_recovery_year_2_sa_-_sept_2020.pdf

Dementia-Friendly Charter Measurables

Emma Best: How will you look to measure the success of the dementia friendly charter?

The Mayor: On 18 May June, I launched the first ever Dementia Friendly Venues Charter. The Charter sets out what changes venues need to make: from physical improvements and training staff to become Dementia Friends, to improving digital communication and joining local dementia alliances or communities.
I am delighted that 30 venues have signed up so far, with 40 venues pledging to sign at the Charter. My team will continue to recruit more dementia friendly venues across London. To measure success we will work with venues to monitor the changes they are implementing and the impact they are having as a result of the Charter.

Deep Tube Reconditioning

Emma Best: In response to my question 2021/1936 you stated Deep Tube Reconditioning had been explored for sections of the Victoria Line through Islington where residential noise impacts are particularly bad. Please could you confirm the estimated cost of thisoption?

The Mayor: Each metre of Deep-Tube Reconditioning, costs approximately £6,500-8,000. If it was carried out on the same area covered by rail grinding, the expected cost of the works would be around £29 million.
Transport for London (TfL) continues to carry out works to address noise and vibration concerns in this area, and in March and April 2021, carried out extensive rail grinding on both the northbound and southbound tracks, which was effective in reducing noise levels.
TfL and I continue to make the case to Government for the long-term funding support that TfL needs following the impact of coronavirus on its finances. Until a funding deal is in place which provides long-term clarity, TfL’s budget for both targeted noise and vibration interventions, and its wider investment in non-safety-critical track renewal and maintenance (which also impacts on noise and vibration issues), remains subject to change.
Given this, TfL’s ability to carry out Tube noise related work – particularly long-term and expensive interventions such as Deep Tube Reconditioning – is currently limited.

Creative Enterprise Zone Haringey

Joanne McCartney: What has been achieved through the creation of your Creative Enterprise Zone in Haringey? Will the GLA be supporting the Zone in the future?

The Mayor: My Creative Enterprise Zones are the UK’s first zones and are delivering 40,000 square metres of new, permanent affordable workspace, and skills, training and jobs for local communities across London.
The zones have been vital in sustaining local creative economies through the COVID-19 crisis, providing targeted rent relief, business rates grants and dedicated funding. Since March 2020, Zones have leveraged an additional £2.2 million, supported over 300 businesses and helped protect over 1,000 jobs.
In Haringey’s Zone, the Warehouse Living Policy is protecting established artistic communities and developing creative workspaces. A £500,000 skills project is supporting 130 local people and 38 small businesses.
As part of the Zone, the ‘Made in Tottenham’ initiative is a new local creative business directory enabling artists and small businesses to raise their profile, connect with jobs and build networks. During lockdown, local artists have been commissioned to improve the public realm as part of the Zone.
I am committed to building on Haringey’s success and will continue to support the Creative Enterprise Zone programme bringing forward opportunities for both current and new zones to support London’s creative industries to thrive.

Incorrect coronavirus charges (1)

Caroline Russell: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) identified that, from the first year of charges for breaches of coronavirus restrictions legislation, the percentage of incorrect charges was 18 per cent. Could you provide me with London-specific data showing how many incorrect coronavirus charges from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) were identified by the CPS?

The Mayor: The CPS does not break this data down by individual force and as such we are unable to fully answer this question, as this data is held by the CPS.
However, the MPS are aware of 159 charges that had been incorrectly laid under the Coronavirus Act instead of the Health Protection Regulations, all of which were withdrawn.

London Eats

Marina Ahmad: What impact has your London Eats campaign had on London’s hospitality businesses so far?

The Mayor: London Eats is a celebration of London’s incredible food and drink offer and is part of my Let’s Do London campaign, the biggest domestic tourism campaign that London has ever launched.
It brings together some of London’s most famous chefs and foodies to share their hidden gems and the must-try bars and restaurants. A series of public announcements featuring Londoners sharing their favourite food hotspots were played across central London tube stations.
Visitor numbers to central London in May already exceeded the busiest period of 2020, which is positive news for hospitality. Our monitoring also shows that audiences who recall the Let’s Do London campaign are almost three times as likely to have visited London and intent to visit London among those who can recall the Let’s Do London campaign is 17 per cent higher than those who don’t recall the campaign.

Let’s Do London

Marina Ahmad: Can you provide an update on the impact of your campaign “Let’s Do London” has had so far for London’s businesses?

The Mayor: So far, visitor numbers to Central London in May have exceeded the busiest period of 2020; which is positive news for Central London businesses. Our monitoring also shows that audiences who recall the campaign are almost three times as likely to have visited London. Intent to visit London is 17 percent higher among those who recall seeing or otherwise experiencing the Let’s Do London campaign than those who do not.

London Let’s Do Business

Shaun Bailey: Following on from your response to my question 2021/2102, when willLet’s DoLondon’sbusinessplan be completed and shared?

The Mayor: My response to Mayoral Question 2021/2102 related to the work of the ‘London Let’s Do Business Board’, not the wider Let’s Do London campaign.
As stated in that response, a business-led Workplace Recovery group called the “London Let’s Do Business” Board has been set up, led by business. This group is supporting businesses in central London to plan the return of their staff to workplaces. It is collating data and insights to understand central London employers’ planned office reopening times and their anticipated numbers through regular pulse polling. It also provides a channel of regular communication on local and central London activities from the London & Partners hub to London businesses.
More detail can be found at: https://business.london/lets-do-business.

VAWG Strategy

Sem Moema: What are the key achievements of your Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, and how do you intend to build on this work in this Mayoral term?

The Mayor: My VAWG Strategy, backed by a record £60.7m investment, focusses on victims, perpetrators and prevention,andruns untiltheend of 2021. As well as funding support services for victims,I have fundedinnovative programmes tackling perpetrators' behaviour, includingtheStalking Threat Assessment Centre and the Drive programme, an intensive multi-agency response to high-risk domestic abuse perpetrators. I have invested in awareness and prevention programmes, forexample myWomen’s Night Safety Charter, to which 530 organisations have signed up so far.
My Victims’ Commissionerhas tirelesslycampaignedon VAWG issues and herLondon RapeReview, publishedin July 2019,vastlyimprovedour understanding of the victims’ experience.
Building on these and other successes, we will consult with stakeholders including the VAWG sectoron the development of the refreshed strategy which I committed to in my Manifesto, to understand what more can be done around prevention, changing perpetrators’behaviour, improvingsupport to victims andtacklingthe root causes ofVAWG.

MPS Estates Strategy

Nicholas Rogers: What is the timescale for the review of the MPS Estates Strategy?

The Mayor: The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) are finalising their estate strategy.MOPAC will scrutinise the plans and the resulting Estates Strategy will be published in due course.

Use of out of court disposals issued by the Metropolitan Police Service

Len Duvall: During quarter 4 2020/21, the use of out of court disposals issued by the Metropolitan Police Service decreased by 23% compared to the previous quarter and by 58% compared to the same quarter the previous year (https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/mopac_q4_2020-21_monitoring_-_final_0.pdf). To what do you attribute this fall in out of court disposals?

The Mayor: Given there has been no change in the eligibility criteria, I understand the primary reason for the fall in the Out of Court Disposals issued is owing to the overall drop in crime during this period. The drop in Quarter 4 Out of Court Disposals issued by the MPS, coincides with the most recent lockdown where the restrictions were re-imposed and non-essential retail shops closed. It is reasonable to assume that this impacted on shoplifting offences for example, where an Out of Court Disposal could have been given. Indeed, there has been a 23% drop in shoplifting offences compared to two years ago.